The highest pan-Slavic gods
Iммt is known that all Slavic peoples worshipped a number of common Slavic gods, among which is the most important and frightening deity - Perun. Perun is the main Slavic god of the pantheon, a thunderer. He is represented as stately, tall, with black hair and a long golden beard. Sitting on a fiery chariot, he rides through the sky, armed with a bow and arrows, and strikes impious people. The god of thunder of the Eastern Slavs Perun stands on the protection of people from dark forces from other worlds, and if you strongly ask him, he can rain on the ground and improve the harvest.
Zяяiemlya-Matushka (Mother Earth), also known in other sources as “Mat’ Syra Zemlya” (Mother - Raw Earth), is also one of the highest deities. Mat’ Syra Zemlya - the elder goddess of the earth or the Earth itself, a fertile mother, the wife of Heaven. The female image of the personified fertility. There are customs to swear by the earth, to kiss the earth, to confess to the earth.
These two deities were equally respected and revered by all Slavs.
Khors (Korsha, Kore, Korsh) - the personified sun, the god of the solar disk, the sun after the autumn solstice. Khors for the Eastern Slavs is not just the god of the sun, it is the very embodiment of the sun. For the people of that time, this celestial body was alive and intelligent: every morning, Khors sits on a horse or in his boat and sails across the sky to illuminate Zemlya-Matushka and saturate her with his warmth and life-giving power. The worship of this god falls on the period between the winter solstice and the spring equinox (December 22 - March 21).
Another deity very similar to Khors is Dazhdbog. Dazhdbog is a solar deity who ends winter and opens spring; the patron of weddings; the ancestor of the Russian people from the prince to the farmer; the son of Svarog (Svarog is the supreme ruler of the Universe, the ancestor of other bright gods; the Slavs called him “the Great”; possibly blacksmith god). He was also often depicted in the form of the sun, with a good-natured face, a smile and kind eyes, but he gives people not only sunlight and warmth, but also all other blessings, hope and happiness.
His name sounds like a prayer and means "the god who gives". If the Slavs in Russia really wanted something, then they, as a rule, turned to Dazhdbog, brought gifts to him in order to propitiate him.
Stribog (Striba, Pogoda, Pohvist, Posvist, Posvystach) - the god of thunderstorms, who appears in storms and whirlwinds, the supreme king of the winds. Stribog, despite the fact that he is depicted as a grey-haired old man blowing a horn, is the fastest and most dexterous of the entire East Slavic pantheon. This is because he is the lord of air and wind. He flies all over the world and sees no obstacles anywhere, and therefore he is a frequent hero of various intrigues and conspiracies, because he knows everything about everything. Birds are the servants and messengers of Stribog, without him they would not be able to fly. The people believe that warm, spring winds come from good spirits, and blizzards from evil ones.
Stribog was worshipped by ordinary people (he drives clouds to water the crops) and noble merchants, because only thanks to him a fair wind blows in the sails of their boats.
As in any other belief, the Slavs also had their own hero, who gave fire to people. This is the equitable and wise god Simargl. Simargl (Sim-Rgl, Pereplut, Semargl Ognebozhich) - the god of fire, the god of fiery sacrifices, the intermediary between people and heavenly gods. The most ancient deity, ascending to Beregini (Bereginya is the guardian of life on earth); a sacred winged dog guarding seeds and crops. The Eastern Slavs considered him the patron of the hearth and often depicted him as a dog with fiery wings. But besides this, it was believed that Simargl is a link between the world of people and the divine world, he is a divine messenger.
Mokosh is the only female deity whose worship was allowed by Knyaz Vladimir. This is because she played a very important role in the religious life of the Eastern Slavs. Mokosh (Makosh, Makesha) is one of the main goddesses of the Eastern Slavs, the wife of the Thunderer Perun, the goddess of weaving, spinning and other crafts. Mokosh is the mother of filled fish traps, the mother of a good harvest. This is not the goddess of fertility, but the goddess of the results of the agricultural year, the goddess of the harvest, the giver of blessings. She is the most industrious of the Slavic gods. Every day, tirelessly, she spins her magical threads - the fate of ordinary people, so in order for everything to go well in life, it was necessary to bring gifts to this goddess and honour her.
jооoi oddess of weaving and spinning, patroness of women
Of course, these were not all the gods of the Eastern Slavs of the pagan period, but only the most revered of them. But it can be seen that they all show a close relationship between man and nature. The worship of these idols is a real gratitude of the people of that time for the gifts of nature and life.
